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Running ...

a sprint through history toward computional notebooks¶

history helps us understand science and software. in this presentation, we see how Project Jupyter and computational notebooks interfaces fit into their larger context of computing history.

we'll begin with user interfaces at the dawn of post modernity then trawl through the early-web, then we'll run smack into the modern web, and finally landing in inaccessible pandemic hellscape that manufactures disability.


computational notebooks and the 🏆 award winning Project Jupyter¶

Free software, open standards, and web services for interactive computing across all programming languages.

A tagline from the official Project Jupyter home page indicating the values and reach of its technology.

Screen shot above the fold of the main Project Jupyter site

Jupyter is a critical software system for interactive computing that makes it possible read and write code in many languages. Most of we find Python and Markdown, but we are not limited to these languages.

Follow me through the olds.

The computer mouse and interactive computing¶

at the dawn of post modernity, Doug Engelbart's X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System changed the way we interact with computers.

the first computer mouse prototype

50 Years Later, We’re Still Living in the Xerox Alto’s World¶

the impact of the Xerox Alto still ripples through the world as we build shiners systems than the mother of all demos. the Alto was a glimpse into the future of personal computing.

a network diagram indicating the broad influence of the xerox alto

computer programning for everybody¶

cp4e is the darpa proposal that contributed to early python development.

it begins ...

In the seventies, Xerox PARC asked: "Can we have a computer on every desk?" We now know this is possible, but those computers haven't necessarily empowered their users. Today's computers are often inflexible: the average computer user can typically only change a limited set of options configurable via a "wizard" (a lofty word for a canned dialog), and is dependent on expert programmers for everything else.

and continues ...

We compare mass ability to read and write software with mass literacy, and predict equally pervasive changes to society. Hardware is now sufficiently fast and cheap to make mass computer education possible: the next big change will happen when most computer users have the knowledge and power to create and modify software.

Interactive Python¶

ANNOUNCE IPython, a new interactive shell for python.

IPython grew to have a lot of features in a monolith

  • an interactive shell
  • a REPL protocol
  • a notebook document fromat
  • a notebook document conversion tool
  • a web-based notebook authoring tool
  • tools for building interactive UI (widgets)
  • interactive parallel Python based on the above REPL protocol

2015 Project Jupyter The Big Split¶

Jupyter is like IPython, but language agnostic

<abbr title="julia">Ju</abbr>
<abbr title="python">py</abbr>
                   te
<abbr title="R">r</abbr>

jupyter enables polyglot programming in many languages at the same time.

accessible notebook interfaces¶

recently, Jupyter developers were able to remove accessibility violations caught be axe. read the blog post.

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manual testing¶

  • WCAG
  • ACT rules
  • WAI patterns

nothing will replace the experiences of disabled people! 🙌 jenn and isabela for making sure the testers got paid!

screen shot of notebooks for all issue